


Trust Fall

by AuroraKant



Series: Dick&DamiWeek [3]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Damian Wayne is Robin, Dick Grayson is Batman, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Just Two Bros Fighting Together And Learning To Trust, Mentions of the Joker - Freeform, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:20:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29945769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuroraKant/pseuds/AuroraKant
Summary: "Do you trust me?""Of course, I trust you, Batman.""Then jump!"Damian jumped.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne
Series: Dick&DamiWeek [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2198859
Comments: 10
Kudos: 83
Collections: DickAndDamiWeek2021





	Trust Fall

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to DAY THREE!!  
> It is still fluffy but now with added ACTION!
> 
> For the prompt **Trust**

“Do you trust me?“

If this was any other situation, Damian would scoff. Trust. What a useless concept. If Richard were to ask this over dinner, or during one of their needless training sessions, Damian would tell the man exactly what he thought about sentimental values like trust.

But, as it were, they weren’t Richard and Damian right now.

No, they were Batman and Robin.

They stood on top of the Wayne Enterprise building, three of Joker’s goons behind them, a bomb tied to Batman’s leg.

It was all Damian’s fault.

He was the one who demanded to go out tonight, even though his shoulder still hurt from their last fight with Professor Pyg. He was the one who stumbled right into the Joker’s trap, and he was the reason Batman had allowed the Joker to put a bomb on his leg before fleeing the scene.

And now… and now Richard was asking _him_ , if _he_ trusted Batman.

Wasn’t it supposed to be the other way round?

Damian was pretty sure that in situations like this one, it was his job to beg his… his Batman for forgiveness. It should be his duty to ensure Richard would return home safe. If something happened to Richard tonight… it would be Damian’s fault.

If Batman died… no, Damian didn’t want to think about it. It was useless to spend precious seconds on thoughts like this. The _woulds_ and _coulds_ and _shoulds_ of sleepless nights were reserved for another time – right now…

Damian stared at Richard, at the small grin visible even now. _The Batman who smiled_. That’s what Gordon had called him, last time they met. Damian had thought it was an insult, enraged by the insinuations, before Richard’s hand on his shoulder had stopped him.

From what Damian could gather… Richard was happy to be called that idiotic title. When Damian had asked Richard simply said “I can’t be the Batman your father was, Damian, but I can be the Batman I was supposed to be”. The answer had been needlessly cryptic, and Damian had chosen to ignore it…

But now Batman was smiling at him.

Richard was smiling and asking for his trust.

There was only one correct answer:

“Of course, I trust you Batman.”

“Then jump.”

Damian didn’t think. He followed the moving shadow of his mentor and pushed away from the roof. His body had been ready for the motion, every muscle tense as they stared at the guns of their opponents. His mind, however,… suddenly, there was so much going on, Damian wasn’t sure he could follow. The gravel crunched underneath the soles of his boots, as Damian put pressure on the loose stones, and before he knew it…

_There was yelling._

The Joker goons were saying something, but Damian couldn’t understand them, because…

_There was smoke._

Damian’s entire field of vision was filled with white fog and acidic smoke. It smelled horrible, but Damian had no idea, where…

_Batman was growling._

He was somewhere to his left. Batman was somewhere to Damian’s left, but he couldn’t see him, the floor beneath him swaying…

When had he landed?

The last thing Damian had consciously done was jump… why was he no longer jumping?

Damian tried to clear his head from the fog surrounding it, but nothing happened. There was yelling. Crying. **Smoke**. There was… gravel underneath his palms. He was kneeling on the floor. The roof. They were on top of the Wayne Enterprise building and Damian had forgotten his re-breather at home. At the bunker. Damian was no longer sure what home really was.

_Not the time._

No.

Really not the time.

Damian had to fight the Joker goons. He had to find Batman… hadn’t he heard Batman yelling only moments before?

The Bomb!

Dread settled heavy in Damian’s gut, and he had to force down the urge to throw up. It had to be the smoke that made him nauseous… Damian wasn’t weak-minded enough to cry over the mere idea of losing Richard. No, he was stronger than that. He was stronger than grief and companionship and… and _trust_.

Richard had just asked him, if Damian trusted him.

Damian had said yes. And now he was paying the price.

Or… Richard was paying the price, if what Damian feared had actually happened.

Damian renewed his struggles for control. His body felt lethargic and slow, but Damian had been trained by the best. He had crawled up the mountains of Nanda Parbat at the age of six, and he had learned how to fight through exhaustion and poison by the age of eight… if some smoke inhalation could really stop him, Grandfather would have taken care of Damian years ago.

For a moment Damian allowed himself to listen, to take stock of his surroundings, before he leaped into action. He concentrated on the gravel digging into the palms of his hands, and slowly he allowed his attention to move further and further away from the pressure points right in front of him.

There was the faint sound of fighting a dozen feet to his left, the sound muffled by whatever had been released into the air. The fight sounded… violent, if the indistinguishable yells of pain were anything to go by.

Damian couldn’t… he couldn’t tell which voice belonged to Richard, but he knew his Batman was still fighting. Even if he was hurt… Richard was still trying to defend Damian and this city from the Joker.

There was nothing else Damian needed to know.

He pushed away from the floor and – with his eyes closed – he ran towards the commotion. It was almost too late when he realized just how close to the edge the fight was taking place. Almost. But Damian stopped just in time, ducking away under a high kick, before he could tumble of the building.

With the smoke still muting the world, Damian wasn’t sure if he would be able to fire his grapple, should he fall.

Not that right now was really the time to try that theory out firsthand.

No, Batman needed him.

Damian evaded another attack, his eyes wide open, and yet almost useless. The smoke was thicker over here, and Damian seemed to be the only one affected. Then again… Joker goons were immune against most common toxins.

It took too long for Damian’s tastes, until he finally managed to grab his attacker by the wrist and force him down onto the ground. Normally, Damian would have ensured the man was knocked out cold, but as it was, a special zip-tie would have to do.

He needed to find Batman.

“Batman! Answer me!”

But it was as if his voice vanished the moment Damian opened his mouth. The smoke swallowed every sound Damian was trying to make… now, Damian had to use that to his advantage.

Even though he was sure that the action was taking place right next to him, Damian only had the faintest noises as his guide. He tried to see something… but no. If anything the smoke was growing even thicker.

Something was definitely wrong here, and it had little to do with the unease building in his chest.

Why had Batman asked Damian to trust him, if this was what happened?

Had this been… _on purpose?_ No, the scene in front of him - if Damian were able to see it - was too chaotic to be on purpose. Something else must have happened… Damian only hoped Richard would still be in posseion of both his legs when he finally found him.

Just as he had done in the middle of winter between stones and ice when he was a child, Damian pushed forward into the unknown.

He basically collided with Batman’s broad back. A familiar hand stopped him before he could tumble back, and before he knew it, Damian was staring into Richard’s sweaty cowl-clad face. This close it was easy to see the man’s features, but when Damian tried to catch a glance of the rest of Batman – to make sure the leg was still there – he couldn’t. He could see maybe five inches into the distance before the smoke obscured his sight.

“Batman!”

“Robin. It’s alright. The fissure of the bomb blew, but it wasn’t… I blew it on purpose. To stop the larger explosion. We just… there should be one goon left. And then… and then we can go after the Joker.”

It made no sense.

None at all.

But then again… Batman had asked Damian to trust him, right?

Maybe he meant this as well.

Back on back Batman and Robin watched their surroundings, ready for the last goon to suddenly appear. For a long moment nothing happened and then… the grinning face appeared right in front of Damian, yelling and laughing and screaming, even if Damian couldn’t hear it.

Damian stumbled back, shocked and embarrassed by his apparent inattention…

He should fight!

He had to fight!

But before he could react, _the face, the claws, the clown,_ still in front of him… Batman was by his side, his gauntlet-clad fists ready to take care of the threat. It was over in seconds, one Joker goon no match for Batman. And yet…

Damian had frozen. He had done nothing. So… maybe Richard wanted Damian’s trust, but Damian wasn’t sure he deserved Richard’s. This was a mess, he had failed, and now the Joker…

Before his thoughts could spiral any further, Batman pushed him forward, until he was standing next to the goon. Damian didn’t understand, and apparently his face must have shown his confusion, because Batman spoke before Damian could ask:

“The zip-ties? I lost mine in the fight.”

“Oh.”

Damian dropped down, zip-tying the goon, when Batman stopped him once more:

“Hey… you’re shaking.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.”

Okay… maybe Damian was shaking. His hands were wrecked by tremors as he tried to fasten the restrains, and his heart was beating so fast, Damian could feel it thump against his ribcage. The question, the fight, the confusion… Damian had seen better days. Right now, he was tired. Exhausted. Probably poisoned. He wanted to sleep, and he wanted his head to shut up. He wanted…

“Why did you ask me that question?”

“What question?”

“About trust.”

Richard looked at him, and Damian wondered how someone else could have ever worn this cowl, when it was so clearly made for a man as good as Richard. Mother had always told him about Father, but the more time Damian spent in Richard’s presence, the more he came to the suspicious conclusion… that Mother might have focused on the wrong Bat, when she tried to conquer Gotham.

Not that he would ever tell Richard. Or Mother.

They didn’t need to know.

“Because I had no time to explain my plan to you. When they put the bomb on me… I saw that it was a two-part reaction trigger. A gas bomb that would mix two toxins to create a ball of flame. It… well, I had to react fast, they had a gun to your head, so I had to trigger one of the gases.”

“Why did I have to jump?”

“So, you would hold your breath for longer.”

“That makes no sense, Batman.”

Damian was feeling lightheaded, even as he watched the smoke slowly dissipate. Too much smoke inhalation. Damian had no idea how Richard was still standing. As if he could hear Damian's thoughts, the man sat down next to him. Damian almost asked after the Joker, but before he could say anything, Richard smiled, nudging Damian in the side:

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but during training? You always hold your breath whenever you prepare to jump. Its something we still have to work on, if you want to master the trapeze… but tonight I could trust your little quirk to keep you safe for a bit longer.”

“Trust. You constantly repeat that word. Trust. Trust. Trust. Why does it matter so much to you?”

“Because _you_ matter so much to me, Robin. And if I don’t want to lose you? Trust is the only thing protecting us out here. Because I can trust you to have my back, and I can trust you jump when I say jump… and I hope you can trust me, to bring you back home safe. To save you and protect you. Sounds good?”

No.

Yes.

Maybe.

“Yes… that sounds… acceptable.”

“Good, because we still have a crazy clown to catch, and I want you to get checked out by Leslie before you pass out.”

Batman stood up, pulling Damian into a standing position as well. Damian wasn’t sure what to make of it, he couldn’t quite grasp what Richard had just told him… but his chest felt weirdly warm, and for now… well, for now Damian would deal with it.

“I am not going to pass out.”

“Yeah, sure you won’t.”

“I won’t!”

“Of course not, Baby Bat.”

“Ri- Batman! This is unacceptable behavior in the field! How da-“

Somewhere between the comfort and the teasing, Damian had stopped shaking. He didn’t even notice it – but Dick did, and he smiled a silent smile of victory.

**Author's Note:**

> Your feedback gives me life! <3<3


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